It is a commonplace assumption that Hitler’s experiences during the First World War ‘made’ him and, equally, that years of trench warfare culminating in defeat propelled millions of brutalised Germans towards revanchism, conquest, ethnic cleansing and, ultimately, genocide. Not so, according to Thomas Weber, who dissects Hitler’s wartime service and assesses the overall record of Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment 16 (RIR 16), in which the future dictator served.